At least six women have been elected to municipal councils in Saudi Arabia after the kingdom allowed women to vote and run for public office for the first time.
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Despite the challenges, a total of 978 women ran for seats in Saturday’s poll, compared to 5,938 men, BBC News reported.
Still, local and global rights activists praised the tally as a victory for women in a country where they face many restrictions.
Groundbreaking… Saudi women cast their votes for the first time in the country’s history.
Veiled Saudi women take photos of their children during a ceremony to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s Independence Day in Riyadh, September 23, 2009.
A second woman, Hanouf bint Mufrih bin Ayid al-Hazmi, won in the northwestern region of Jawf, SPA said, adding that in the kingdomÕs east, Sanna Abdel Latif Hamam and Maasooma Abdel Mohsen al-Rida were elected in Ihsa province. There was also complete separation between men and women at events during the campaign, with female candidates required to speak from behind a partition or have a man speak on her behalf.
In Medina too one woman was elected.
Overall results from the capital Riyadh and other major regions were expected to be announced Sunday by the General Election Commission.
In 2005, elections for half the numbers of the municipal councillors were held, with the other half appointed, and it included only male candidates and voters.
A Saudi woman waits outside a polling center as she prepares to cast her ballot during the country’s municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. “I think it’s great that several women won in different regions of Saudi Arabia”, commented the writer Maha Akeel.
Women voters said registration was hindered by factors including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transportation.
The number of women in the Saudi workforce also has been increasing, from 23,000 in 2004 to more than 400,000 in 2015, according to the government.
The move became possible when the late King Abdullah announced in 2011 that women would be able to vote in this election.
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As she spoke, a military transport plane flew low overhead from the nearby airbase, a reminder of the momentous policies from war in Yemen to management of plunging oil prices on which Saudi citizens – men and women – still have no formal say. In contrast, only about 44 percent of the more than 1.3 million men voted in the election.
